XP service pack 2 and 3dmark performance...

gashman · Aug 11, 2004, 04:06 PM

Hi guys! this is my first post so here goes...

I put on a vga silencer yesterday and was making some benchies with my 9800pro 128mb (amd XP 2600+ tb @ 11x200; 1024mb pc2700 @ pc3200; dfi lanparty nforce2 ultra B; RAID0 maxtor sata 80gigs etc) and at stock 9800pro speeds i was getting about 6000 3dmark03 with my 4.7 cats.
Since yesterday THE ONLY CHANGE I HAVE MADE IS TO INSTALL SERVICE PACK 2 on my xp pro system. I noticed the memory used after starting went from 150mb to 200mb with no changes to my own start up programs but some extra windows ones that seem to pertain to the new service pack.

Now since then my default 9800pro clocks score only 5600 to 5700. I have lost 300+ points merely from installing xp service pack 2. Does anyone else have any similar experience to report? I am thinking of uninstalling the pack since it has caused a significant hit to my overall pc performance with little real gain in security terms.

Could you guys compare your own 3dmarks etc before/after?

~~HawK~~ · Aug 11, 2004, 04:58 PM

from 6000 to 5700 that would be 0.5%, nothing shocking really, test it a few times more, if it still is 0.5% remember you computer is more secure this way and Spyware or Trojans do more to your system than 0.5%

mike2h · Aug 11, 2004, 05:12 PM

that would be 5%. but basically you are correct.

interspaced · Aug 11, 2004, 09:48 PM

yeah i've noticed a drop when i installed serivce pack 2 the card started in pci mode so i had to update the motherboard drivers and gfx drivers i get 4800 points with a fx 5900 used to get into the 5000 region

Fahim · Aug 26, 2004, 05:48 PM

I didn't notice any slowdown in 3DMark03 with SP2. I slipstreamed SP2 with XP SP1 Pro.

Judas · Aug 27, 2004, 03:50 AM

i got a preformance boost with SP2 installed... a nice boost.. and it's very noticeable throughout the use of windows....

of course.... i slipstreamed it on my cd so it is always already installed when i install windows..... only way to do it effiecently...

WisMerHill · Aug 31, 2004, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

i got a preformance boost with SP2 installed... a nice boost.. and it's very noticeable throughout the use of windows....

of course.... i slipstreamed it on my cd so it is always already installed when i install windows..... only way to do it effiecently...

same here idd, small perfomance boost after installing slipstreamed SP2.

The Godfather · Sep 5, 2004, 09:17 AM

If you have Nortin Antivirus and Norton Firewall, is it necessary then to install Service Pack 2 since I believe I'm enough protected? Or is highly recommendable to install Service Pack 2 anyhow?

thx

WisMerHill · Sep 5, 2004, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Godfather

If you have Nortin Antivirus and Norton Firewall, is it necessary then to install Service Pack 2 since I believe I'm enough protected? Or is highly recommendable to install Service Pack 2 anyhow?

thx

Yes it is highly recommendable to install Service Pack 2, SP2 is not only the new firewall or the security center, it contains a lot of securityfixes that would have left your system right open to exploits no mather what firewall or antivirus you run.

EDIT:
If your afraid it might mess things up as a lot of people reported (personally i didn't encounter a single issue on 3 different pc's) you might wanna consider making some backups and a restorepoint prior to installing SP2

~~BMG_Cya=-~~ · Sep 6, 2004, 11:52 AM

Quote:

If your afraid it might mess things up as a lot of people reported (personally i didn't encounter a single issue on 3 different pc's)....

That makes two of ya.

Mickie M · Sep 6, 2004, 03:11 PM

i didnt get a drop or major leap in performance but it seems a little faster and smoother since i started using sp2.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Sep 7, 2004, 04:51 AM

to get the full speed of sp2 you need to format and reinstall useing a slip steam cd... then tweak up your system.... you'd be suprized i was....

(remember aslo after severice packing alot of any custom performance settings have been reset, reg tweaks etc....)

WisMerHill · Sep 7, 2004, 10:28 AM

Yes , slipstreaming is definetly the way to go. installing SP2 on top of a current SP1 install is what gives all those probs people are mentioning. I haven't heard many with problems if the used a slipstreamed SP2 and reinstalled, it even fixed things for people who tried to install it on top first.
If you dont know how to slipstream, there's always NLite, a tool which can do it for you and creates a bootable windowscd image including SP2.
NLite is found here: http://nuhi.msfn.org/

~~squall Leonhart~~ · Sep 7, 2004, 11:10 AM

go into the boot.ini and change /noexecute to /execute

overall performance is increased somewhat

Danhill · Sep 7, 2004, 11:31 AM

So the best thing here is to reinstall windows and then install sp2 (not sp1 and sp2)??

WisMerHill · Sep 7, 2004, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danhill

So the best thing here is to reinstall windows and then install sp2 (not sp1 and sp2)??

No, the best thing is to slipstream the SP2 to the (SP1) installation files, meaning you need to copy the contents of your windows cd to a folder on disk and update the install files with SP2, then burn a new install cd with the updated files and then install windows.

Download NLite and just run it to give yourself an idea how it's done, it's easy and only costs about ten minutes to make a new sp2 updated iso which you can then burn to cd. It's bootable as well so it completly makes your old windows cd abundant.

Danhill · Sep 7, 2004, 12:21 PM

Sounds advanced, so what are the benfits of doing this??

~~squall Leonhart~~ · Sep 7, 2004, 12:38 PM

you can use Autostreamer or autostream from Neowin.net as well

thats what i used..

WisMerHill · Sep 7, 2004, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danhill

Sounds advanced, so what are the benfits of doing this??

It really isn't. True, slipstreaming used to be diffiicult because of the weird commandline options you had to use, but ever since there are little tools like NLite or Autostreamer it became very easy. Basicly you just need a windowsxp cd, sp2 and the tool, from that on it's a simple point and click, no real knowledge needed, the app will explain everything to you.

The benefits are multiple but hard to list, it basicly does a couple of little things which make it worth while. There are no benches or anything to prove this but benefits include:

- saves time, no need to install SP2 after install

- a more stable system, a lot of users who installed SP2 on top of a working xp install are having all kinds of weird problems, while the percentage of people that slipstreamed and had problems is 10 times lower. (estimated guess but you can easily see it when looking over the people with problems)

- a quicker system, most user who slipstreamed noticed a small performance increase while people who installed on top got a decrease. offcourse the reinstall itself makes your system quicker even without SP2.

- less used diskspace since you don't need to backup SP1 files and don't have any other security updates on your system

well, those are most benefits, it basicly comes down to: a more responsive system with less chance for errors. But offcourse this is only through observation but it worked for every SP i used up from NT4 to XP now, i really wouldn't know how to prove it sientificly if i had to apart from reinstalling your system for you with a slipstreamed sp2.

Danhill · Sep 7, 2004, 01:09 PM

Thanks NL][WisMerHill.

WisMerHill · Sep 7, 2004, 01:20 PM

You're welcome anytime.

Maybe it's an idea if i write something like a guide to slipstream/customize a winxp cd and sp2. I'ts fairly easy but an explaination with pictures can be so much simpeler to follow.

if there are people who like that i'd be willing, just hope my english is good enough

reply if interrested.

~~squall Leonhart~~ · Sep 7, 2004, 01:31 PM

well autostreamer already has a guide.. so you can just link that can't you?

and for that Nlite program.. yeah... that would be a good idea.. cause i would like to see the differences in the two programs

WisMerHill · Sep 7, 2004, 02:49 PM

K, that's one

I'll look into it tonight when i come home, got some spare time. still gotta play a clanwar at 22:00 cet so i'll see if i can get anything done.

Anybody know wheter Zardon requires a specific setup or something (maybe he doesn't want it) because if i do i tend to make one just like the guides in the guides forum?

[EDIT]
I meant for the NLite tool idd, it has a lot more options then only slipstreaming that's why i use it. Nlite can remove windowscomponents and drivers you don't need so your install doesn't get so bloated and becomes faster. Things like MSN Messenger, MS Games and such can be removed so they can't be installed with that cd anymore (can still install with another complete cd offcourse). This option leaves more room on my Windows CD so i can add all the drivers i want to use and some apps i reguraly use. Very easy to have it all on one CD.

~~squall Leonhart~~ · Sep 7, 2004, 02:51 PM

sticking to the tried and true is usually best so just give it the same guide structure as any other you've seen.... unless they were all different.. then your screwed... mwahahahaa

WisMerHill · Sep 7, 2004, 02:58 PM

You know what, i'll make a new topic and a poll to see if it's wanted and if people have suggestions.

~~squall Leonhart~~ · Sep 7, 2004, 03:04 PM

good idea.... always better to know if its wanted

Danhill · Sep 8, 2004, 07:03 AM

I installed SP2 yesterday on top of my SP1, before my 3D mark was 6049, and after 6041.

WisMerHill · Sep 8, 2004, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danhill

I installed SP2 yesterday on top of my SP1, before my 3D mark was 6049, and after 6041.

mm so you basicly stayed at the same performance level, the 8 points lost are well within the margin of error and when you run it again you might get 6051 or something. Considering you'll probably see some performance gain when reinstalling win with sp2 slipstreamed.

Hardcoreware had a nice article up about SP2 and performance, they too noticed some gains. read it here:
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-237-1.htm

Quote:

Performance is for the most part identical to SP1, except in a few cases. In those cases, SP2 was actually faster! There were only one or two instances where SP1 was faster, and that was by the slimmest of margins.

What surprized me was how much gaming performance was increased by upgrading to SP2 and DirectX 9c! I was NOT expecting this, especially on the midrange x600 XT card we used for testing. Nonetheless, most games do benefit from the upgrade.

gashman · Sep 8, 2004, 12:51 PM

Well I can confirm slipstreaming makes a world of difference. On my system i did not slipstream and a lot of things got broken. My ati drivers were running buggy and sometimes games appeared to be using software rendering, my TV card kept crashing or randomly using 100% cpu load, lan browsing was buggy. Conversely i used a slipstream install on my fathers machine and it runs very much better than it did before, displaying no issues at all, so i am about to reformat and reinstall using a slipstreamed sp2.

Aside from this i have noticed that combined with ATIs new control center and following black vipers essential services guide my system somehow uses 300mb of ram on start-up. What is in windows that could possibly use that much? i swear however much ram i put in windows always uses a third of it. If i put another gig in it'll probably go up to 500mb or something stupid lol.

Danhill · Sep 8, 2004, 01:37 PM

I only made 1 run though, I will test it again tonight, several times.

Aug 11, 2004, 04:06 PM	#1
gashman DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	XP service pack 2 and 3dmark performance... Hi guys! this is my first post so here goes... I put on a vga silencer yesterday and was making some benchies with my 9800pro 128mb (amd XP 2600+ tb @ 11x200; 1024mb pc2700 @ pc3200; dfi lanparty nforce2 ultra B; RAID0 maxtor sata 80gigs etc) and at stock 9800pro speeds i was getting about 6000 3dmark03 with my 4.7 cats. Since yesterday THE ONLY CHANGE I HAVE MADE IS TO INSTALL SERVICE PACK 2 on my xp pro system. I noticed the memory used after starting went from 150mb to 200mb with no changes to my own start up programs but some extra windows ones that seem to pertain to the new service pack. Now since then my default 9800pro clocks score only 5600 to 5700. I have lost 300+ points merely from installing xp service pack 2. Does anyone else have any similar experience to report? I am thinking of uninstalling the pack since it has caused a significant hit to my overall pc performance with little real gain in security terms. Could you guys compare your own 3dmarks etc before/after?

Aug 11, 2004, 05:12 PM	#3
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	that would be 5%. but basically you are correct. __________________

Aug 26, 2004, 05:48 PM	#5
Fahim DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: In Front of my PC Posts: 42 Rep Power: 0	I didn't notice any slowdown in 3DMark03 with SP2. I slipstreamed SP2 with XP SP1 Pro. __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 6000+ ASUS CROSSHAIR AM2 Motherboard 2 x 1GB Corsair XMS PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM 160GB+500GB+750GB+1TB+1TB+750GB+250GB+750GB+750GB+ 1TB+120GB+400GB [COLOR=green]NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB (650,1940)[/COLOR] [COLOR=#008000][color=red]ATI RADEON HD 3870 512MB (800,2340)[/color][/COLOR] [COLOR=#008000][color=red]ASUS AX800 XL 256MB (??)[/color][/COLOR] Coolermaster Real Power 1000W PSU

Sep 5, 2004, 09:17 AM	#8
The Godfather DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Belgium, Antwerp Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	Service Pack 2? A treat or a trick? If you have Nortin Antivirus and Norton Firewall, is it necessary then to install Service Pack 2 since I believe I'm enough protected? Or is highly recommendable to install Service Pack 2 anyhow? thx

Sep 6, 2004, 03:11 PM	#11
Mickie M DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	i didnt get a drop or major leap in performance but it seems a little faster and smoother since i started using sp2. __________________

Aug 11, 2004, 04:58 PM	#2
~~HawK~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,092 Rep Power: 0	from 6000 to 5700 that would be 0.5%, nothing shocking really, test it a few times more, if it still is 0.5% remember you computer is more secure this way and Spyware or Trojans do more to your system than 0.5%

Aug 11, 2004, 09:48 PM	#4
interspaced DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 287 Rep Power: 0	yeah i've noticed a drop when i installed serivce pack 2 the card started in pci mode so i had to update the motherboard drivers and gfx drivers i get 4800 points with a fx 5900 used to get into the 5000 region

Sep 7, 2004, 04:51 AM	#12
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	to get the full speed of sp2 you need to format and reinstall useing a slip steam cd... then tweak up your system.... you'd be suprized i was.... (remember aslo after severice packing alot of any custom performance settings have been reset, reg tweaks etc....) __________________

Sep 7, 2004, 10:28 AM	#13
WisMerHill DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 468 Rep Power: 0	Yes , slipstreaming is definetly the way to go. installing SP2 on top of a current SP1 install is what gives all those probs people are mentioning. I haven't heard many with problems if the used a slipstreamed SP2 and reinstalled, it even fixed things for people who tried to install it on top first. If you dont know how to slipstream, there's always NLite, a tool which can do it for you and creates a bootable windowscd image including SP2. NLite is found here: http://nuhi.msfn.org/ __________________ [color=sandybrown][color=white] [/color] [color=white][color=white]M[/color][color=white]y Computer[/color]: [/color][color=white]3DMark2001[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3Dmark2003[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3DMark200[/color][color=white]5[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]PCMark2004[/color][/color]

Sep 7, 2004, 11:10 AM	#14
~~squall Leonhart~~ The Gunblade Master Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: um.... here Posts: 938 Rep Power: 0	go into the boot.ini and change /noexecute to /execute overall performance is increased somewhat

Sep 7, 2004, 11:31 AM	#15
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	So the best thing here is to reinstall windows and then install sp2 (not sp1 and sp2)?? __________________ MOBO: [color=white]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium[/color] CPU: AMD 64 3200+ (Venice) @ 2,50 Ghz MEM: 2 x 512 DDR 466, VGA: 2 x 6600 GT in SLI, HDD1: WD Raptor HDD2: Maxtor Diamond Plus 9, Case: Antec Plus View 1080, PSU: ThermalTake PurePower 500W, MX 1000, Dell 2001 FP, Aud. 2 SZ

Sep 7, 2004, 12:21 PM	#17
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	Sounds advanced, so what are the benfits of doing this?? __________________ MOBO: [color=white]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium[/color] CPU: AMD 64 3200+ (Venice) @ 2,50 Ghz MEM: 2 x 512 DDR 466, VGA: 2 x 6600 GT in SLI, HDD1: WD Raptor HDD2: Maxtor Diamond Plus 9, Case: Antec Plus View 1080, PSU: ThermalTake PurePower 500W, MX 1000, Dell 2001 FP, Aud. 2 SZ

Sep 7, 2004, 12:38 PM	#18
~~squall Leonhart~~ The Gunblade Master Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: um.... here Posts: 938 Rep Power: 0	you can use Autostreamer or autostream from Neowin.net as well thats what i used..

Sep 7, 2004, 01:09 PM	#20
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	Thanks NL][WisMerHill. __________________ MOBO: [color=white]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium[/color] CPU: AMD 64 3200+ (Venice) @ 2,50 Ghz MEM: 2 x 512 DDR 466, VGA: 2 x 6600 GT in SLI, HDD1: WD Raptor HDD2: Maxtor Diamond Plus 9, Case: Antec Plus View 1080, PSU: ThermalTake PurePower 500W, MX 1000, Dell 2001 FP, Aud. 2 SZ

Sep 7, 2004, 01:20 PM	#21
WisMerHill DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 468 Rep Power: 0	You're welcome anytime. Maybe it's an idea if i write something like a guide to slipstream/customize a winxp cd and sp2. I'ts fairly easy but an explaination with pictures can be so much simpeler to follow. if there are people who like that i'd be willing, just hope my english is good enough reply if interrested. __________________ [color=sandybrown][color=white] [/color] [color=white][color=white]M[/color][color=white]y Computer[/color]: [/color][color=white]3DMark2001[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3Dmark2003[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3DMark200[/color][color=white]5[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]PCMark2004[/color][/color]

Sep 7, 2004, 01:31 PM	#22
~~squall Leonhart~~ The Gunblade Master Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: um.... here Posts: 938 Rep Power: 0	well autostreamer already has a guide.. so you can just link that can't you? and for that Nlite program.. yeah... that would be a good idea.. cause i would like to see the differences in the two programs

Sep 7, 2004, 02:49 PM	#23
WisMerHill DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 468 Rep Power: 0	K, that's one I'll look into it tonight when i come home, got some spare time. still gotta play a clanwar at 22:00 cet so i'll see if i can get anything done. Anybody know wheter Zardon requires a specific setup or something (maybe he doesn't want it) because if i do i tend to make one just like the guides in the guides forum? [EDIT] I meant for the NLite tool idd, it has a lot more options then only slipstreaming that's why i use it. Nlite can remove windowscomponents and drivers you don't need so your install doesn't get so bloated and becomes faster. Things like MSN Messenger, MS Games and such can be removed so they can't be installed with that cd anymore (can still install with another complete cd offcourse). This option leaves more room on my Windows CD so i can add all the drivers i want to use and some apps i reguraly use. Very easy to have it all on one CD. __________________ [color=sandybrown][color=white] [/color] [color=white][color=white]M[/color][color=white]y Computer[/color]: [/color][color=white]3DMark2001[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3Dmark2003[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3DMark200[/color][color=white]5[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]PCMark2004[/color][/color] Last edited by NL][WisMerHill; Sep 7, 2004 at 02:54 PM.

Sep 7, 2004, 02:51 PM	#24
~~squall Leonhart~~ The Gunblade Master Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: um.... here Posts: 938 Rep Power: 0	sticking to the tried and true is usually best so just give it the same guide structure as any other you've seen.... unless they were all different.. then your screwed... mwahahahaa

Sep 7, 2004, 02:58 PM	#25
WisMerHill DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 468 Rep Power: 0	You know what, i'll make a new topic and a poll to see if it's wanted and if people have suggestions. __________________ [color=sandybrown][color=white] [/color] [color=white][color=white]M[/color][color=white]y Computer[/color]: [/color][color=white]3DMark2001[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3Dmark2003[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]3DMark200[/color][color=white]5[/color][color=white] - [/color][color=white]PCMark2004[/color][/color]

Sep 7, 2004, 03:04 PM	#26
~~squall Leonhart~~ The Gunblade Master Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: um.... here Posts: 938 Rep Power: 0	good idea.... always better to know if its wanted

Sep 8, 2004, 07:03 AM	#27
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	I installed SP2 yesterday on top of my SP1, before my 3D mark was 6049, and after 6041. __________________ MOBO: [color=white]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium[/color] CPU: AMD 64 3200+ (Venice) @ 2,50 Ghz MEM: 2 x 512 DDR 466, VGA: 2 x 6600 GT in SLI, HDD1: WD Raptor HDD2: Maxtor Diamond Plus 9, Case: Antec Plus View 1080, PSU: ThermalTake PurePower 500W, MX 1000, Dell 2001 FP, Aud. 2 SZ

Sep 8, 2004, 12:51 PM	Thread Starter #29
gashman DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	Well I can confirm slipstreaming makes a world of difference. On my system i did not slipstream and a lot of things got broken. My ati drivers were running buggy and sometimes games appeared to be using software rendering, my TV card kept crashing or randomly using 100% cpu load, lan browsing was buggy. Conversely i used a slipstream install on my fathers machine and it runs very much better than it did before, displaying no issues at all, so i am about to reformat and reinstall using a slipstreamed sp2. Aside from this i have noticed that combined with ATIs new control center and following black vipers essential services guide my system somehow uses 300mb of ram on start-up. What is in windows that could possibly use that much? i swear however much ram i put in windows always uses a third of it. If i put another gig in it'll probably go up to 500mb or something stupid lol.

Sep 8, 2004, 01:37 PM	#30
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	I only made 1 run though, I will test it again tonight, several times. __________________ MOBO: [color=white]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium[/color] CPU: AMD 64 3200+ (Venice) @ 2,50 Ghz MEM: 2 x 512 DDR 466, VGA: 2 x 6600 GT in SLI, HDD1: WD Raptor HDD2: Maxtor Diamond Plus 9, Case: Antec Plus View 1080, PSU: ThermalTake PurePower 500W, MX 1000, Dell 2001 FP, Aud. 2 SZ